A conventional makeup applicator includes a container that contains the product and a removable cap intended to close the container; the cap comprises an element making it possible to manipulate a distributor device carried at the end of a rod integrally attached to the cap. In the closed position of the container, the rod and the distributor device with which it is associated dip into the container. When the rod is withdrawn from the container, a certain quantity of makeup product that one wishes to apply to the surface to be made up is picked up by the distributor device. In the case of a nail polish applicator, the distributor device is a brush; in the case of an applicator for the lips, the distributor device may comprise a zone of the associated rod on which a tuft of fibers has been provided; in the case of an applicator for making up the eyelids, the distributor device may be a pad of flexible plastic foam at the end of the associated rod; and in the case of face makeup with a makeup base or cream, the distributor device may be a flexible spatula fixed at the end of the associated rod.
In the case of eyelash makeup, the distributor device is preferably a brush, which is advantageously cylindrical or conical; in order to eliminate the excess makeup product picked up on the brush, a wiper device is incorporated into the container, comprising a single lip or double wiper allowing only the quantity of cosmetic product necessary for good makeup to remain on the brush. The importance of this type of wiper is also apparent for applicators intended for other types of makeup.
As is well known, customers very often wish to try a makup product by testing it directly on the surface (for example, eyelids, face, eyelashes, nails) that is to receive it. Until now, these tests have been done using makeup sets identical to those sold and have been usable in succession by a plurality of customers. However, for hygienic reasons and more particularly taking into account the risks of transmission of serious contagious diseases, it is believed to be no longer acceptable for public tests to be made by using the same makeup set for several persons. Accordingly, research has been directed to developing makeup sets of reduced size capable of being used for a single test and then discarded; naturally in such a case, it is very desirable for these makeup sets to have a moderate cost.
In this context, it has already been proposed that makeup sets be made that are smaller but of the same structure as the conventional makeup sets. Hence the side wall of the container and the threads intended for cooperating with the threads of the cap are produced by molding; the base of the container is molded separately, and the side wall is affixed to the base; then, the wiper device is placed at the top of the container. These makeup sets of reduced size nevertheless have a certain number of disadvantages: In the first place since height of the container is only very little greater than the height of the distributor device that closes it, the container must be filled completely with the cosmetic product, so that the distributor device will be impregnated with the product over its entire length; however, in that case, in the course of manufacture, inserting the applicator device into the fully filled container often causes spilling of the cosmetic product from the container. In the second place, these test sets, made like the conventional sets, with the same number of parts and by the same method, have a high cost that is quite incompatible with the fact that they must be discarded after the test.
It has also been proposed to form a simpler container of different structure and obtained by injection or extrusion blow molding; thus it is possible to obtain a container made in a single piece that in its upper portion has a wiper device comprising a constricted portion of the side wall of the container. To reduce the cost, the reservoir is not filled with the cosmetic product, and a distributor device previously oversaturated with cosmetic product is used, since the container no longer plays any role except to protect the pre-filled distributor device. However, a makeup set of this type has one major disadvantage: At the time of manufacture, the applicator is inserted into the container and the applicator is wiped by sliding past the constriction and then is no longer oversaturated with the product; as a result, at the time of the test, the distributor, which undergoes a second wiping when it is removed from the container, is not sufficiently filled with cosmetic product to make a satisfactory test. If one wishes to overcome this disadvantage by recourse to the technique of filling the container with product, then the cost becomes higher, and there is once again the disadvantage of the risk of spilling at the moment when the distributor device inserted into the filled container.